Pessary



Aug. 14, 1951 '0. SCHMITT PESSARY Filed Oct. '7, 1949 jig INVENTOR. 0770 L. ScHM/Tr Patented Aug. 14, 1951 UNITED STATES Parent FFIC'E enssARY Otto L. Schmitt; Denver, 0010., assignor to Larr- Lalmratories, lf-ne a corporation of Colorado r iqa nflq qher 7, 42 ScrialN 12 1.1 .6 5 Giaims, (cl. res-r31) itself to a simple applicator device; and which,

can be easily and accurately shaped and; pre-. formed by the attending physician to accommodate various pathological conditions as encouna ired.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is;d e;-. signed for simplicity, economy, and eiiiciency.

These will become more apparent from the fol;

lowing description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a. part hereof. Like numerals refer to like partsin all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the improved intracervical pessary;

Fig. 2 is an edge viewthereof;

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate forms to which the im proved pessary may be altered to suit conditions v n ou er d;

Fig. 5 is abottom view of the pessary Fig. 6 illustrates an applicator which may be 1...

used for the insertion of the improved pessary;

Fig. 7 is a detail View of a flexible disc which may be applied to the pessary;

Fig. 8' illustrates the appearance of the pessary with discs of the type of Fig. '7 applied thereto; and

Fig. 9 is a side View of an alternate form of the invention.

The improved pessary is molded from polyethylene plastic in a suitable steel die so that it will be a single, unitary plastic structure throughout without metallic reinforcement of any kind.

The basic form of the improved intracervical pessary, shown in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, com prises a stem Ii molded with three bulbous enlargements I2 spaced-apart along its length. The enlargements are somewhat wedge-shaped in that their surfaces incline relatively gradually toward the stem H as they approach the inner extremity of the latter, as shown at l3, and incline r ther. abru tly toward t e. stem I as he outer extremity is approached, as indicated at. [4. An annular groove 2| surrounds the stem II at} the; base of the abrupt side [4 of each enlarge-- meat, 12..

The outer extremity of the stem is slightly en-- larged as shown at I 5, and this enlarged ex.- rem ty t rm ates ina flex l dished d sc 6 having its convex surface directed outwardly... A tubular'socket i i extends into theenlargernent- [5 of the stem H from the axis of the outer. face-of the disc, |6.

he inner. extremity o t e e ii er nat intwo outwardly flaring flexible prongs I 8. forming asubstantially V-shape, The tWO DIQngs [8; are braced by t o cl ned flex bl b ace mem bers i9 which join, each other at an apex 20 and. form. h t ev pron s W a W sh p The above described structure of the inner eggtre .,y readily adapts it for trimming by the. physician to suit conditions encountered. Fornstan atn wo ra e me e s. I may bese cred-hum the. runes W t p odu e. a flexib e snared. nner x remi y as ow n Fi 3--v Th s flaring r n s may be a ily rted b ten. nist i r inwa dl to parallel re ati n and. laci e hem e-ha f of a atin capsuleas is usually done with this type of pessary, The; ezinandi e 'action of pr n s: serv s. to. draw he 6:! fasainstihemouth of tnecervixxand.

cts retain hel t er. sn y i p c The. non a1 we e shapeofthe enlargem n s 12 al o; facilitatestheinsertion and tends to;re,sist\with= drawaloi the st min some-cases the relatively long flexiblepronss; lfixmightznotbe necessary ordesirable. Insuch; casestheprongs may be cutaway at their points.

ofj'intersection with the member, I9 tofcrm an open-1 pointed spearhead, extremity. on the stem. as; shQWninFig. 4. It will be noted that this so called spearhead isgmoretapered along the:

members [9 than along the remaining portionsof the prongs [8. This tapering angle facilitates insertion and the more abrupt angle tends to resist withdrawal.

The tubular socket I1 is for the purpose of receiving the extremity of an insertion rod 22 (see Fig. 6) which is slidably mounted in a tubularapplicator 23 and terminates in a finger grip 24. It can be readily seen that the pessary will be firmly supported on the rod 22 so that it may be readily inserted in the cervical canal. After insertion, the pessary is held in place by the tubular applicator while'the rod 22 is withdrawn so as to avoid displacement of the pessary.

If desired, flexible rubber discs, such as illustrated at in Fig. '7. may be placed along the stem H. The discs 25 are provided with small central openings 26 which can be stretched and distorted sufliciently to allow the discs to pass over the prongs l8, when the latter are pressed together, and snapped into the grooves 2! below each of the enlargements [2 where they will retain themselves in place due to their inherent elasticity. When the pessary is inserted, the discs told outwardly into radial folds to act to retain the pessary in place without interference with normal discharges.

An alternate form of the pessary stem is illustrated at 21 in Fig. 9, having the same extremities, that is the disc l6 and the prongs l8, as the previous form. The alternate stem 21 .is formed with one or more longitudinally extending slits or splits 28. The sides of the stem opposite the slits 28 are bowed outwardly as indicated at 29. The outwardly extending bowed sides 29 serve to retain the pessary in place and also act to accommodate uterine contraction.

It is desired to call attention to the fact'that since the improved intracervical pessary has no metal reinforcements of any kind, the corrosion usually encountered with metal reinforced pessaries is eliminated and the possibility of infection is reduced. The polyethylene plastic from which the pessary is made is not effected by acids, alkalies or alcohols or by the natural body fluids, so that possible contamination is greatly reduced.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A pessary comprising: a unitary molded artiole formed from flexible plastic and havingan elongated stem; a dished disc concentrically molded on one extremity of said stem; flaring prongs on the other extremity of said stem; and an inverted V-shaped brace member joining said prongs at its extremities to form a spearhead shaped opening opposite the junction of said prongs.

2. A pessary comprising: a unitary molded article formed from flexible plastic and having an elongated stem; a dished disc concentrically molded on one extremity of said stem; flaring prongs on the other extremity of said stem; spaced-apart bulbous members formed along said stem, said bulbous members being substantially wedge shaped and having a more gradual incline as they approach the pronged extremity than at their other extremity; and an inverted V-shaped brace member joining said prongs at its extremities to form a spearhead shaped opening opposite the junction of said prongs.

3. A pessary formed from a poly-ethylene plas tic throughout its entire body and having an elongated stem, flaring prongs at one extremity of said stem, a dished disc at the other extremity thereof, the convex face of said disc facing outwardly, there being annular grooves formed about said stem at spaced-apart intervals and resilient flat, circular discs having an axial opening surrounding said stem, each disc engaged in one of said notches due to the elasticity of said disc.

4. A pessary having an elongated stem; a dished disc formed on one extremity of said stem; a plurality of spaced-apart, wedge-shaped enlargements formed along said stem, there being a circumferentially extending groove formed in said stem at the larger extremity of each of said enlargements; two flexible, outwardly flaring prongs formed on the other extremity of said stem in a substantial V-shape; two inclined flexible brace members extending from said prongs and joining each other to form an apex between said prongs so as to form with the prongs a W-shape.

5. A pessary having an elongated stem; a dished disc formed on one extremity of said stem; a plurality of spaced-apart, wedge-shaped enlargements formed along said stem, there being a circumferentially extending groove formed in said stem at the larger extremity of each of said enlargements; two flexible, outwardly flaring prongs formed on the other extremity of said stem in a substantial V-shape; two inclined flexible brace members extending from said prongs and joining each other to form an apex between said prongs so as to form with the prongs a W-shape; and a relatively thin, flat, flexible disc positioned at the larger extremity of each of said enlargements, each of said discs having a central opening, the edge of which is engaged in one of said grooves so that the disc is maintained in place by contraction into said groove.

OTTO L. SCI-IMITT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany May 24, 1934 

